Home featured Featured Investing News Featured Overcoming the barriers to tech start-up ecosystems flourishing across Australia Peter Khalil September 5, 2016 Innovation and sport are two fundamental pillars in the makeup of the Australian psyche. Whether it is pioneering in medicine or dominating our national sports on the global stage we’ve done it with a sense of community and a touch of inventiveness. Our success in the Olympics over many generations is a testament to our commitment to properly funding that which enriches and defines us yet we’ve unfathomably neglected technology start-ups. We’ve allowed the vanguard of the future economy to shift overseas to enjoy better capital prospects; government-backed incentives and cheaper cost of living – and with them our home-grown talent and visionaries. It becomes an idly accepted self-fulfilling prophecy where young Australian tech entrepreneurs and workers look beyond their own borders for the most exciting and rewarding opportunities. Federal focus on innovation, retaining talent However, change may be in the air. The current spotlight on Atlassian and other successful tech start-ups is helping spur a growing pool of public and private investment funding in a burgeoning Australian tech start-up sector. Tax incentives and investment support from the Australian government for tech start-ups and paled in comparison to San Francisco, London and Tel Aviv whose leading success in attracting tech start-ups is well documented and can be attributed to the significant levels of government funding made available. Seeking to do something about this and reverse the brain-drain of our